DV is a format for storing digital video, audio, and metadata like subtitles and subtitles. It was released in 1995 through the joint efforts of multiple camcorder producers. DV uses lossy compression for video while audio is stored uncompressed. An intra-frame video compression scheme is used to compress video frame by frame. All variants of DV except DVCPRO Progressive are recorded to tape within an interlaced video stream. Film-like frame rates are possible through the use of film-to-video pulldown transfer.

DVCPRO, also known as DVCPRO25, is a variation of DV developed by Panasonic and introduced in 1995 for use in electronic news gathering (ENG) equipment. In 1996 Sony responded with its own professional version of DV called DVCAM. Like DVCPRO, DVCAM uses locked audio, which prevents audio timing drift that can occur in DV if multiple generations of copies are made.

DVCPRO50 was introduced by Panasonic in 1997 for high value electronic newsgathering and digital cinema and is often described as two DV codecs operating in parallel. Comparable formats include Sony’s Digital Betacam, released in 1993, and MPEG IMX, released in 2001. DVCPRO Progressive was introduced by Panasonic for newsgathering, sports journalism, and digital cinema. Like HDV-SD, it was intended as an intermediate format during the transition from standard definition to high definition video.

DVCPRO HD, also known as DVCPRO 100, is a high-definition video format that can be thought of as four DV codecs running in parallel. Although DVCPRO HD is technically a direct descendant of DV, it is used almost exclusively by professionals. Tape-based DVCPRO HD cameras only exist in the shoulder-mount variant. JVC offers a similar format, Digital-S (D-9 HD), and uses videocassettes in the same form factor as VHS. The main competitor to DVCPRO HD is HDCAM, offered by Sony. It uses a similar compression scheme but at a higher bit rate.

Tape-based variants of DV, except DVCPRO Progressive, do not support native progressive recording, therefore progressively acquired video is recorded within an interlaced video stream using the pulldown transfer technique, the same technique used in TV to stream movies.

DV was originally designed to record on magnetic tape. The tape is enclosed in small, medium, large and extra-large videocassettes. Any DV cassette can record any variant of DV video. However, manufacturers often label cassettes DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, or DVCPRO HD and indicate the recording time relative to the published label. With the proliferation of tapeless camcorder video recording, DV video can be recorded to optical discs, solid-state flash memory cards, and hard drives and used as computer files. This allows for easy file sharing for uses such as archiving and transcription.